PUBLIC OFFICIALS of the YEAR

Martin O'Malley
2009 HONOREE

Governor, Maryland

Everyone knows Martin O'Malley is a numbers guy. The data-driven approach to policy and administration that he created as mayor of Baltimore, known as "CitiStat," has been copied by cities across the country. Now, as governor of Maryland, O'Malley is showing that states, too, can improve performance by measuring what they do and relentlessly monitoring their progress.

Underneath O'Malley's "stat" talk is a deeper view about how to effect change in the public sector. Whether the issue is education, public safety or economic development, O'Malley says, the problems are complex and the bureaucracies are fragmented. In his view, government won't improve unless leaders dissect the interrelations between different agencies and hold them accountable for meeting measurable goals.

That's where the numbers come in. For example, O'Malley has energized moribund efforts to reduce pollution in Chesapeake Bay by creating "BayStat." The governor's team found that virtually every state agency has at least a small role to play in cleaning up the Bay. "We're not going to find the magic factory that allows us to take everything bad that's flowing into the Chesapeake Bay and turn it into clean water," O'Malley says. It's a matter of coordination. For each agency involved, key data have been collected, and managers are grilled about their progress. "There are 27 core actions that we are taking on bay cleanup. So you map those steps out, and they're all connected to one another to create a healthier whole."

O'Malley's managers are making the connections, too. Public Safety Director Gary Maynard explains that one day he's huddling with agricultural officials to discuss reforestation, the next he's meeting with natural resources staff on building baskets for growing oysters in the bay. "Here, the focus is on coming together and on working together," Maynard says, "and there's no question that it's making a difference."

— Jonathan WaltersPhoto by David Kidd

Every year since 1994, Governing has honored individual state and local government officials for outstanding accomplishment by naming them Public Officials of the Year. Elected, appointed and career officials from any branch of state or local government are eligible. Our readers are invited to nominate individuals who have had a notable positive impact on their department or agency, community or state.

Governing annually receives several hundred nominations from individuals in the public and private sectors. In addition, Governing staff consults experts and scholars in the field, and also nominates outstanding individuals they encounter in the course of their work. Nominations are evaluated by a selection committee, which, after painstaking research, chooses the winners.